Practitioner report

Dave Sedgwick /Mike Carter talk

The two most memorable lectures and talks from the professional practice speakers for me this year were the Dave Sedgwick talk and the Mike Carter talk. Both were so different as Mike Carter was from orchid a recruitment company and Dave Sedgwick is a designer but both of the talk’s main focus was on graduating and what to do next. I chose to talk about these two as both were focused on what we do next but from two different perspectives that were both as interesting as the other.

 

The first difference from these talks was the structure. Dave Sedgwick came in and spoke to all pathways and all years in the lecture theater. Although the focus was aimed at us the third years it was open and catered to all audiences. The Mike Carter talk was aimed at our class. The groups were split into two and we sat upstairs in a studio all around a table, which made it easy to have discussions. I found the Mike Carter talk more personal as we were in a small environment. This made it easier to ask questions and be involved in the process, Compared to the Dave Sedgwich talk which was in a lecture theater based on a PowerPoint presentation.  It would have been better If the Dave Sedgwick talk was in a more personal environment as I took more information away from that lecture as he has been in our situation.

 

Dave Sedgwick came in as a guest lecture for us on the 29th of October 2009. He works for 999 design but also does free lance work on the side. He broke his lecture down in to 3 parts- About me- How to get a job- and finally his work.  I liked the way that he focused the lecture on our benefit rather than just showing his work that is available on the website. The main thing he focused on throughout his studio was that we need to start planning now for what we are going to do when we leave. He also mentioned last year degree show and said we need to top it but by displaying the work easier. He gave us a job break down that I found interesting/funny. 

 

I found his part 2 aimed at how we get a job the most important to me. His advice was to start planning and put together a list of agencies we would like to work for. Remember the small ones. Keep a book of contacts and target ones with winning work. The layout of our portfolio is important and to keep projects to 2 pages. He also suggested emailing the company after to say thank you after you have visited which is obvious but many people do not do.

 

When he showed us his work he showed us bad design and also unfinished piece. I was good to see this rather than the same old immaculate pieces of design, which we don’t usually see in lectures. I liked this approach because it shows his normal.

 

I took a lot away about the next step from this lecture. It had not crossed my mind to start making a list of agencies and to look further afield from the Manchester based agencies we know of. I found the portfolio advice helpful to. Its always good to hear advise from a designer that looks at students work on a regular basis. That is the advice I tend to take on board the most.

 

The only thing that would have made this lecture better would have been a more personal environment.

 

 

The Mike Carter talk was very different to this. On Thursday the 5^th of November Mike Carter came into help us with advise on how to tackle getting a job when we graduate. I got interesting quotes and realization out of this talk such as There are roughly 456,000 graduates every year and almost 50,000 of them are on art and design based courses. Mike talked us through how to get your first job, help with c.v's, portfolios and interviews. This was a very different insight to other practitioner lectures we have had before, as Mikes job is to help design graduates to get a job. He knows all the facts and statistics and through past experiences knows what works when students are trying to get a job.

 

He gave us constructive advise on first jobs including that they will look at your enthusiasm commitment and organization over good design.

We found out information about wages and how this is different form different company’s. This is information we are not usually told but also one of the most important factors. I found the c.v part extremely important. Most lectures talk about portfolio but never touch on the first step and there experience. We found out important information such as your c.v main job is to get the company to contact you. it needs to communicate what you want to say in 3 seconds. It can be written in 1st or 3rd person and start with an intro stating-who you are, what you want and why you want it.

 

Mikes talk was very insightful and made us aware of the next step after graduation. We also did group activities showing the importance of changing your portfolio depending on what job you are going for.

 

I think it is important to get both insights. The Dave Sedgwick talk was great because you got to here his journey and see how he got there and where he is now. Everyone has different opinions when it comes to work and portfolios so its good to talk the most common and popular advise from the talks and lectures.

ShellSuit Zombie

ShellSuit Zombie

In London we went to the shell suit zombie lecture. They made it very informal as it was in a pub and involved us. The talk was about graduation and what happens next. They all told us what they had done when they graduated and help and advise on how to get there.

After this they involved us all by doing a mini pitch. We all got given a product and a person to sell this product. My group got given world piece and the face for this product was Peter String Fellow. Each group got up and pitched and it was a fun experience.

While all the pitching was going on we had  a chance to leave questions at the back which got answered at the end. We also all contributed to a book that was being past around.

Mike Carter talk

Mike Carter from Orchard came in today to help us with advise on how to tackle getting a job when we graduate. There are roughly 456,000 graduates every year and almost 50,000 of them re on art and design based courses. Mike talked us through how to get your first job, help with c.v's, portfolios and interviews.

First Job

They will look at your enthusiasm commitment and organization over good design.

Your first job will be a junior designer and the pay will fall between 12-14 thousand. The more creative the company the less pay you will get. From your first job you will get experience, learn to apply yourself and take work to print.

And your second job will be much easier to get than your first.

C.V

Your c.v main job is to get the company to contact you. and needs to communicate what you want to say in 3 seconds. It can be written in 1st or 3rd person and start with an intro stating-

who you are,what you want and why you want it. If it includes work experience please state what the company does and what you did there.

phrases like works well in team are not always necessary and no pictures needed.

When sending off your c.v compose an email with your email address on, where you saw the job advert and why you want the job. With this send a pdf portfolio no more than 2 m.

Portfolios.

Make it relevant for what job you are going to.15-20 pages and max 3 page per project.

In at least 2 projects show scamps and the key is to ditch student work as soon as possible.

Interviews

Aim of an interview is to see if your suited. Research the company and make sure you know where it is. Make sure you have a list of questions ready when they ask you... have you got any questions

Mikes talk was very insiteful and made us aware of the next step after graduation.

Dave Sedwick talk

Dave Sedwick came in as a guest lecture for us on the 29th of October 2009. He works for 999 design but also does free lance work on the side. He broke his lecture down in to 3 parts- About me- How to get a job- and finally his work.  I liked the way that he focused the lecture on our benefit rather than just showing his work that is available on the website. The main thing he focused on throughout his studio was that we need to start planning now for what we are going to do when we leave. He also mentioned last year degree show and said we need to top it but by displaying the work easier. He gave us a job break down that i found interesting/funny. 

average day-

80% design

10%account management

5%calls

3% tea

2% emailing friends

I found his part 2 aimed at how we get a job the most important to me. His advise was to stat planning ad put together a list of agencies we would like to work for..remember the small ones. Keep a book of contacts and target ones with winning work. The layout of our portfolio is important and in this keep projects to 2 pages. He also suggested emailing the company after to say thank you after you have visited which is obvious but many people do not do.

Whn he showed us his work he showed us bad design and also unfinished piece. I was good to see this rather than the same old immaculate pieces of design.

 

His work can be found at www.designbydave.co.uk

Practitoners Craig Oldham v Fake ID

The two lectures that stood out to me the most during the last year was The Craig Oldham lecture and the lecture that fake Id did for us. Because of this I will look at the processes and practices of the two and compare and contrast them. I will conclude this by looking at how their individual practices can be applied in my work.

The Craig Oldham lecture was one of my most inspiring lectures I have seen. Craig graduated from college three years ago so his student days were still fresh in his mind. I think this is why I found it so appealing; He also made it very funny which kept my attention. Craig’s practices involve a book he has written called 12 in 12. This is a book that contains 12 things you learn about the business within your first year after finishing your degree.”12 lessons in 12 months”. The lessons are broken down into 12 points.1.Understand Graphic design and the meanings behind it. Also find out what graphic design means to you.2.Know your own Strengths and weaknesses and be honest with your self about it.3. Your portfolio is for life and is never finished,4.Placements matter even with pros and cons.5. Everybody knows someone in the design industry.6.Share your ideas two heads are better than one.7.Graphic design is a job, being a designer is different.8.Make mistakes it’s the only way you will learn.9.the design industry exists outside of London.10.20% of your time is spent designing.11.Have a life outside design,this may be your inspiration and finally 12.Work hard and be nice to people.

Craig's Lecture was very bold and he came across confident, He was clearly passionate about his work and wanted this to rub off on us. His Lecture was very informative and was more for our benifit by giving us advise, He showed us pieces of his work but still linked this in for our beneift.

Craig said his typography was his down fall yet i find it very interesting and inspiring.His hand drawn type is something i don't include in my work but should. The other image is a moving card for the M.E.N arena. This way of thinking could really help me out with my work and ideas.

The second lecture that stood out for me was fake IDs lecture but for very different reasons. Fake id is made up from Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees.When looking through there website and work they spend alot of there time doing lectures. Although to me they looked very nervous and read from notes. This was a vast differnce from the Craig Oldham lecture as they showed no confidence. Fake ids lecture was based on sound and they showed none of there work. This had its pros and cons. The plus side was that we saw there side of thinking and where there ideas came from, this would have been good though to see the finish piece and how the sounds influenced the piece of work. A bad point to this was because I didn’t see the final outcome I didn’t understand it and felt very confused. Fake id’s work is very good and interesting and it was a shame they didn’t show

and tell us more about this work.




Their lecture was broken down into 3 sections. Language, Sound and Text.
The language section looked at Roseanne and android. This was Latin graffiti and showed us how a new language had been made and translations to this.
The sound section played us recordings. There was a tape of Puerto Rican New Yorke rs and advertisements for Burger chef. Burger chef recorded kids stories and gave them away as a toy with a kid’s meal. The third and final section looked at text Ernie kovacs and breaking the forth wall. They finished up by talking to us about the work they are doing called LSTN, which is what we contributed to in the workshop we did.

Both off these lectures were very different. Craig Oldham showed a lot of confidence and was exciting and interesting, where fake I’d was quite dull and pointless to me.
Both of them though showed enthusiasm in their work and what they did. This was good to see and both lectures made you want to strive to success and get in to the business and standard that they are at.

I learnt a lot from both of these lectures that can be translated into my own work. I learnt from Fake Id that any interests that you have could influence your work. Sound can play a big part in ideas and design. It also makes you think about your surroundings and take in the obvious things that you would usually ignore. Such as conversations you could hear in the street. I learnt a lot about the industry from Craig Oldham and what to expect. He gave us all advise in the 12 points which included things other lectures hadn’t told us. He showed us the importance of work experience and gave us the pros and cons instead of a one sided view.

Having lectures come in to the college has been very interesting and helpful. You get to see and learn about work that you haven’t necessarily seen before. And it makes you aware of what is out there in the design industry and your options when you leave college.

Fake Id lecture

Fake Id did a lecture with us on friday the 1st of May 2009. This lecture was not what i expected  it to me. I found it very strange and i did not understand it.

Fake Id have permanent exhibitions all over the world including New York and London.

As well as being graphic designers they also teach.

Fridays lecture was broken down into 3 sections. Language, Sound and Text.

The language section looked at Roseanne and android. This was latin graffiti  and showed us how a new language had been made and translations to this.

The sound section played us recordings. There was a tape of Puerto Rican New Yorkers and advertisements for Burger chef. Burger chef recorded kids stories and gave them away as a toy with a kids meal.

The third and final section looked at text Ernie kovacs and breaking the forth wall. They finished up by talking to us about the work they are doing called LSTN which is what we contributed to in the workshop we did.

I personally found this lecture a let down. The workshop we did with them was very insightful and interesting and i assumed the same would show through the lecture. I would have prefered to see how there lecture linked to there work and seeing more about fake id.

Fake Id workshop

FAKE ID WORKSHOP

Fake id came in the studio to work with us today.W got given a picture of a man on a horse and had to create a two minute voice over that doesn't describe anything directly in the picture. I got paired with Casey and we both decided it looked like a scene from a film. After looking at the John Smith girl chewing gum film we decided to to a directors commentary of what has happened before and around the picture. We had to present our narrative soundtrack to the class which was recorded. It has now been published on LSTN an online archive of language text and noise. This is on FAke Ids website www.wefakeid.com/lstn
here is mine and caseys script


• What time is it? We need this scene done before its dark please!!

• Are the cameras in focus?

• Joe get the cameramen to sort out the cameras and get new film roll in them! Asap!

• Right get Annie on the phone that light bulb needs fixing on lighting rig 5.

• Actor 4 into make up

• Now!!!

• Quiet on set please,

• Lighting rig three turn it on!

• Who’s left that chair on set??

• Get that moved immediately

• And that tree. Move it slightly to the left

• A bit more, bit more stop.

• Actors 2 and 3 get in positions please

• Get actor 4 out of make up now please we need him on set.

• Come on speed up everybody! Action in 30 seconds!!

• Wind machines 1 and 4 switch on please

• That’s too much turn off number 1.

• That’s better.

• Where are the extras get them all in positions straight away.

• You there guy with big hair

• Spit that gum out!

• Ok camera man 2 move you camera back slightly

• That’s it perfect.

• Right everyone quiet now

• Ready for action

• Everyone on set and in positions

• Scene 5 take one

• Action.

• Bring your horses in slowly from the right

• She said slowly!

• Ok a few more steps

• Right stop there

• Extras enter scene

• Play the crowd background noise

• Actors 2 and 3 prepare for racing scene

• You two, get into positions.

• Switch to camera 3.

• And race!

• Actor 2 you two close to actor 3

• Back off slightly

• Come on extras I need enthusiasm

• This is a race

• Quicker actor 3

• Control your horse

• Control your horse

• And cut

• Someone bring the horse trainers in please

• All ready for second take.

• Are the horses ready now?

• And actors

• Ok quiet on set.

• Scene 5 act 2.

• ACTION!

Craig Oldham Lecture

Craig Oldham came in to speak to us on the 23rd of april 2009. This was my most enjoyable lecture because he could still relate to us as students and he made it very funny. Craig left college 3 years ago and left chase to work at music. He has written a book called 12 in 12. This book contains 12 things you learn being out in the business the first year after your degree. HE told us the differences between Logical thinkers and emotional.I found this interesting as I did not know the two existed. He showed us films to back up his points which is something i havnt seen done before. The lecture went thorough the 12 steps which we have been given a copy of the text. The most interesting point for me was about the work placements and as well as giving us reason to do placements he also gave the cons which is rare to hear. The work i have included was for the manchester evening news informing people about there new address. We got shown the journey of this work and how group input is important. Craig ended the lecture with a quote from Erik Kessel," Work hard and be nice to people." 

Design by music lecture

Music

On the 2nd of April Design by music came in to talk to us about there work and also advise on what to do once we have left college. They have not set up there website yet just a home page so it was good to see the work they have done. I particularly like the flip flop packaging they had designed. Music spent alot of the lecture talking to us about how to approach interviews, portfolio visits and work placements. The key points i took from this was-

• Presentation
  
• Be clear on what the brief was
• Be positive
• Attitude- ask questions, show interest ask for contacts.

He also spoke about his journey setting up Music and how its easier to do with other people. HIs final piece of advise for us was to get used to criticism.

Fudge talk

A member of the design agency fudge came into talk to us today, usually when lecturers come in to speak to us we just get a powerpoint of different finished outcomes with this one was different.. in a good way. They showed us what they did as soon as they got the brief, we got to se all the idea generation, scamps and the pitching they went through until they got to there final outcome. There project was to design a new identity and logo for the british tennis and squash association and then we got to see the finished outcome. This was probably one of the best lectures up to now because they showed us the hard work leading up to a final idea which we never get to see.

Glorious lecture

26/02/2009 The design agency Glorious came in to do a lecture for us

Tom showed us a powerpoint of there work which they had done for the tate, Ancoats Urban village and identity and logo work they had done. The logo work was very interesting as it linked in to the project we were doing on identity. It was also good to see the work they had produced for the tate project pitch which they had lost to Thoughful. It was good to see both projects that were in the final to be chosen. The work that stood out to me the most was the pay and display ticket project. These were an invite to a free exhibition in kendals car park. It was a great idea and the typography used on it was clever. Tom also explained the design roster to us which was something i wasn't aware of before,This is where a company who develop in area such as the great ancoats work they showed us, appoint 5 design agencies to work for them.

Thoughtful talk about pitching

To help with our logo identity brief thoughtful gave us a guide to pitching. i wrote down bullet points of there most useful tips.

• understand brief and client
• ask questions
• always meet with the client and do your homework
• find out and know what budget your working with
• make decisions quick and try stick with them

For the presentation

• do coversheet
• use routes or number ideas so easy to remember
• put your ideas in the environment i.e bus stop e.c.t
• answer questions before being asked